Two new studies from Europe have found that the number of farm birds in France has crashed by a third in just 15 years, with some species being almost eradicated. The collapse in the bird population mirrors the discovery last October that over three quarters of all flying insects in Germany have vanished in just three decades. Insects are the staple food source of birds, the pollinators of fruits, and the aerators of the soil.
The chief suspect in this mass extinction is the aggressive use of neonicotinoid pesticides, particularly imidacloprid and clothianidin, both made by German-based chemical giant Bayer . These pesticides, along with toxic glyphosate herbicides (Roundup) , have delivered a one-two punch against Monarch butterflies, honeybees and birds. But rather than banning these toxic chemicals, on March 21st the EU approved the $66 billion merger of Bayer and Monsanto, the US agribusiness giant producing Roundup and the genetically modified (GMO) seeds that have reduced seed diversity ...

The Equadorian government has opened huge portions of land to large-scale open-pit mining projects. Last week, Mindo residents were among the thousands who took to the streets all across Ecuador in a march to demand an end to environmentally destructive mining.
Protesters march against mining on March 22, 2018, near Mindo, Ecuador. (Photo: Sophie Moon)
Mindo is a small village in the lush, tropical cloud forest that descends from the Andes to the coast just outside of Quito, Ecuador. The cloud forest is home to an abundance of wildlife, such as brightly colored lizards, wild cats, spectacled bear, and over 600 species of birds. Mindo was recently named one of the top 10 places to birdwatch in the world by National Geographic , and those who live there are known for their conservationist stances and fights against oil corporations. The area is so rich in biodiversity that it has won the Audubon Christmas bird count competition seven times with the highest number of species.
Last week, Mindo residents were ...

ShaRhonda Knott-Dawson, a west suburban mother of two young girls, takes her family to McDonald’s semiregularly because it’s an indulgence they all enjoy.
But she’s put those trips on hold for now. Knott-Dawson plans to launch an online petition this week in coordination with the nonprofit ...

Installing "Desert Fountain" at the Albuquerque Museum. (Photo: Basia Irland)
As anthropogenic climate disruption and human development progress, rivers are drying up and water scarcity has become the new norm. This climate dispatch features author, poet, sculptor and installation artist Basia Irland, whose work and activism eloquently weave in the critical threads of conservation and education, along with her reverence for water and its role in life and on Earth.
Installing "Desert Fountain" at the Albuquerque Museum. (Photo: Basia Irland)As a journalist and author covering anthropogenic climate disruption (ACD), when I write about what is happening in the liquid realms of the biosphere, my focus tends to be on how rapidly certain parts of the cryosphere are melting. Additionally, sea level rise, thermal expansion of the oceans, floods and droughts are what tend to make it into my Climate Disruption Dispatches and my book.
Hence, I, like most of us, tend to overlook the most blatantly obvious place ...

(Image: Erhui1979 / Getty Images)
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There's been lots of fire and fury around Washington lately, including a brief government shutdown. In Donald Trump's White House, you can hardly keep up with the ongoing brouhahas from North Korea to Robert Mueller's Russian investigation, while it already feels like ages since the celebratory mood over the vast corporate tax cuts Congress passed last year. But don't be fooled: none of that is as important as what's missing from the picture. Like a disease, in the nation's capital it's often what you can't see that will, in the end, hurt you most.
Amid a roaring stock market and a planet of upbeat CEOs , few are even thinking about the havoc that a multi-trillion-dollar financial system gone rogue could inflict upon global stability. But watch out. Even in the seemingly best of times, neglecting Wall Street is a dangerous ...

An international team of researchers studying globally declining shark populations report today that they used carbon isotopes as biochemical markers in shark muscle tissue to identify where in the oceans the mobile predators have been feeding, in the hope that such analyses provide a useful tool for conservation. Details appear in the current issue of Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Seemingly well-intentioned newspaper columns have been inadvertently normalizing the use of nuclear weapons, depicting nuclear attacks as events we will have the agency and capacity to respond to meaningfully. But nuclear weapons are a threat to all living beings -- let's not be distracted by discussions of all the clever ways we can dance our way out of the apocalypse.
(Image: Paul Campbell / iStock / Getty Images Plus)
Current fears of the potential use of nuclear weapons -- partly resulting from the North Korean weapon program and accompanying threats by President Trump, and mishaps like the errant ballistic missile alert notification in Hawaii recently -- have led to a new flush of articles on what to do if there is a nuclear weapon detonation nearby. Articles, such as " What to do in case of a nuclear attack ," in the Washington Post, and " How to survive a missile attack: What's the official advice? " on the BBC website, offer thoughtful and pragmatic guidance to those who are anxious about ...

An international review led by the University of Queensland and WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) says that many native carnivores that live in and around human habitation are declining at an unprecedented rate – spelling bad news for humans who indirectly rely on them for a variety of beneficial services.

Wildlife ecologists studying the rare Spotted owl in the forests of California have discovered that large, intense wildfires are not responsible for the breeding territory extinction that has been reported recently.

In its first act to shield California from the Trump administration's repeal of regulations, the state's water board has prepared its own rules protecting wetlands and other waters. The proposed new rules could insulate the state from President Donald Trump's executive order to roll back the reach of the Clean Water Act.
Landscapes from Point Reyes National Seashore, a stretch of federally protected Pacific Ocean coastline, on July 6, 2017, outside of the town of Inverness, California. (Photo: Andrew Lichtenstein / Corbis via Getty Images)
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This story was originally published by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn more at revealnews.org and subscribe to the Reveal podcast, produced with PRX, at revealnews.org/podcast .
In its first act to shield California ...

Wildlife species are being exposed to high levels of rat poison in northwest California, with illegal marijuana farms the most likely source point, according to a study led by the University of California, Davis, with the California Academy of Sciences.

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For centuries, hunters have relied on lead ammunition to quickly and humanely kill game, but with each shot they release a potentially lethal poison into the environment, threatening vulnerable animal populations.
While harmless to humans, the gut piles and carcasses hunters regularly leave behind often contain lead fragments, which can be deadly for scavengers who eat them, particularly raptors like bald and golden eagles, California condors and turkey vultures.
Consequently, a seemingly unlikely alliance between sportspeople and environmental activists has formed to tackle the issue by advocating for copper and other non-lead options and promoting hunters as environmental stewards.
Hunter Russell Kuhlman, who serves as the Institute for Wildlife Studies' non-lead ammunition outreach coordinator for California, says, "I think ...